Understanding of the relationship between the comments being made to the containers and the comments being made to the elements of the containers

ABSTRACT

A method, system and computer program product for improving understanding of comments on collections of data. A social media stream is monitored for comments to a container (e.g., photo album) and elements within the container (e.g., photographs). These comments are stored in a data structure along with an identification of the container or element of the container upon which the comments are directed. In response to a user selecting to view comments to an element within the container or the container itself, the data structure is searched for the comments to the selected element or container. Images of the container are then displayed in a fliptych manner, where the selected element or container is displayed in the center section of the fliptych. A list of comments is displayed in a comments section below the fliptych, where the list of comments includes highlighted comments directed to the selected element or container.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to social network services, andmore particularly to improving the understanding of the relationshipbetween the comments being made to the containers (e.g., photo album)and the comments being made to the elements of the containers (e.g.,photographs).

BACKGROUND

A social network service is an online service, platform or site thatfocuses on building and reflecting of social networks or socialrelations among people (e.g., those who share interests and/oractivities). A social network service essentially consists of arepresentation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, anda variety of additional services. Most social network services areweb-based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet,such as by e-mail and instant messaging. Social networking sites allowusers to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within theirindividual networks.

Social networking sites (e.g., Facebook®) present to a particular userthe posts (e.g., comments to a photograph or photo album) and stories byother users in a social networking feed (referred to as a “news feed”).New postings or updates from friends and pages followed by the user(including photo tags, event updates, group memberships and otheractivity) will be reflected in the news feed. At times, some of theposts or updates include comments directed to containers (e.g., photoalbum) or the contained elements (e.g., photographs). However, it is notalways clear as to whether the comment stream applies to the elements ofthe container or to the container itself.

For example, a user of a social networking site may receive anotification indicating that an update to a photo album has occurred,such as four new photographs being added to the photo album. A depictionof the photo album along with the photographs in the album may appear tothe user so that the user can comment on the album. However, the usermay believe that he/she is commenting on one of the photographs of thephoto album as opposed to the photo album itself which leads toconfusing comment streams. As a result, when the user sees thephotograph as part of an album update, the user may see his/her commentin the comment stream; however, when the user sees the comment streampertaining to the photograph itself, the user will not see his/hercomment thereby causing confusion to the user.

Furthermore, when an update is made to an element of a container (e.g.,photograph) or to a container (e.g., photo album), users, such asfollowers of the user who updated the element or container (e.g., posteda new comment about the photograph), may receive a notification of theupdate. However, such notifications are fragmented in that they occurafter every update for a single element of a container or the containerand do not provide a view of the social interactions involving an updateof several related elements or containers (e.g., photographs,documents).

Hence, the comment streams depicted in social networking sites do notclearly distinguish whether the comments are directed to the elements ofthe container or to the container itself. Furthermore, the notificationsin social networking sites pertaining to updates (e.g., comments) beingmade to an element of a container or to a container do not provide aview of the social interactions involving an update of several relatedelements or containers.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for improvingunderstanding of comments on collections of data comprises monitoring asocial media stream for comments to a container and elements within thecontainer. The method further comprises saving the comments to a datastructure along with an identification of the container or an element ofthe container upon which the comments are directed. The methodadditionally comprises searching, by a processor, the data structure forcomments to the container or to an element of the container in responseto a user selecting to view comments to the container or the element ofthe container. Furthermore, the method comprises retrieving the commentsto the container or to the element of the container from the datastructure. Additionally, the method comprises displaying images ofelements of the container in a fliptych manner and a first list ofcomments in a comments section, where an image of the container or theelement of the container selected by the user is displayed in a centersection of the fliptych, where the first list of comments comprisescomments directed to the container or the element of the containerselected by the user which are highlighted.

Other forms of the embodiment of the method described above are in asystem and in a computer program product.

The foregoing has outlined rather generally the features and technicaladvantages of one or more embodiments of the present invention in orderthat the detailed description of the present invention that follows maybe better understood. Additional features and advantages of the presentinvention will be described hereinafter which may form the subject ofthe claims of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when thefollowing detailed description is considered in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a social network system configured in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration of a comment notificationsystem configured in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for monitoring and storing comments tothe container and the elements of the container in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4A-4C are a flowchart of a method for displaying the elements of acontainer in a fliptych manner along with a comment section containinghighlighted comments directed to the element or container depicted inthe center section of the fliptych in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a screenshot of a user interface on a client devicedisplaying the elements of a container in a fliptych manner along with acomment section, where the comments in the comment section directed tothe element or container depicted in the center section of the fliptychare highlighted in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for adjusting the comment stream inresponse to the user selecting an image of a different element in thefliptych to become the currently selected element in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a screenshot of a user interface on a client devicedisplaying the elements of a container, such as pages of a document, ina fliptych manner along with a comment section that includes comments tothe pages of the document, where the comments directed to the pagedepicted in the center section of the fliptych are highlighted inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a screenshot of a user interface on a client devicedisplaying the elements of a container along with a comment section thatincludes comments to the elements of the container, where the use of anellipsis is used to convey that many additional comments were madepertaining to the other elements of the container between the time ofthe first and second comment in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a screenshot of a user interface on a client devicedisplaying the elements of a container along with a comment section thatincludes comments to the elements of the container, where the use of anellipsis is used to convey that many additional comments were madepertaining to the other elements of the container before and after thecomments on the element depicted in the center section of the fliptychin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method for navigating between elements ofthe container by clicking on comments in the comment section inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates a screenshot of a user interface on a client devicein response to the user selecting a comment in the comment section,where a new element associated with the selected comment is depicted inthe center section of the fliptych and where comments in the commentsection directed to the element displayed in the center section arehighlighted in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;and

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method for adjusting the comment stream inresponse to the user selecting an area of an element or container inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention comprises a method, system and computer programproduct for improving understanding of comments on collections of data.In one embodiment of the present invention, a social media stream ismonitored for comments to a container (e.g., photo album) and elementswithin the container (e.g., photographs). These comments are stored in adata structure, such as index or table in a database, along with anidentification of the container or element of the container upon whichthe comments are directed. In response to a user selecting to viewcomments to an element within the container or the container itself, thedata structure is searched for the comments to the selected element orcontainer. The comments to the selected element or container areretrieved from the data structure. Images of the container are thendisplayed in a fliptych manner, where the selected element or containeris displayed in the center section of the fliptych. A list of commentsis displayed in a comments section below the fliptych, where the list ofcomments includes highlighted comments directed to the element orcontainer displayed in the center section of the fliptych. In thismanner, the user is able to obtain a better understanding of therelationship between the comments being made to the containers (e.g.,photo album) and the comments being made to the elements of thecontainers (e.g., photographs).

While the following discusses the present invention in connection withdisplaying the elements (e.g., photographs) of a container (e.g., photoalbum) in a fliptych manner, the principles of the present invention maybe applied to any control which allows visual navigation among elementsof the container. A person of ordinary skill in the art would be capableof applying the principles of the present invention to suchimplementations. Further, embodiments applying the principles of thepresent invention to such implementations would fall within the scope ofthe present invention.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without such specific details. In other instances,well-known circuits have been shown in block diagram form in order notto obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. For the mostpart, details considering timing considerations and the like have beenomitted inasmuch as such details are not necessary to obtain a completeunderstanding of the present invention and are within the skills ofpersons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.

Referring now to the Figures in detail, FIG. 1 illustrates a socialnetwork system 100 configured in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. Referring to FIG. 1, social network system 100includes a community of users using client devices 101A-101C (identifiedas “Client Device A,” “Client Device B,” and “Client Device C,”respectively, in FIG. 1) to be involved in social network system 100.Client devices 101A-101C may collectively or individually be referred toas client devices 101 or client device 101, respectively. Client device101 may be a portable computing unit, a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA), a smartphone, a laptop computer, a mobile phone, a navigationdevice, a game console, a desktop computer system, a workstation, anInternet appliance and the like.

Client devices 101 may participate in a social network by communicating(by wire or wirelessly) over a network 102, which may be, for example, alocal area network, a wide area network, a wireless wide area network, acircuit-switched telephone network, a Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM) network, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)network, a WiFi network, an IEEE 802.11 standards network, variouscombinations thereof, etc. Other networks, whose descriptions areomitted here for brevity, may also be used in conjunction with system100 of FIG. 1 without departing from the scope of the present invention.

System 100 further includes a social network server 103, which may be aweb server configured to offer a social networking and/or microbloggingservice, enabling users of client devices 101 to send and read otherusers' posts. “Posts,” as used herein, include any one or more of thefollowing: text (e.g., comments, sub-comments and replies), audio, videoimages, etc. Posts may be added or removed from the social media streamvia a commenting engine 106A-106C in client device 101A-101C,respectively. Commenting engines 106A-106C may collectively orindividually be referred to as commenting engines 106 or commentingengine 106, respectively. Social network server 103 is connected tonetwork 102 by wire or wirelessly. While FIG. 1 illustrates a singlesocial network server 103, it is noted for clarity that multiple serversmay be used to implement the social networking and/or microbloggingservice.

System 100 further includes a comment notification system 104 connectedto network 102 by wire or wirelessly. Comment notification system 104 isconfigured to improve the understanding of the relationship between thecomments being made to the containers (e.g., photo album) and thecomments being made to the elements of the containers (e.g.,photographs) as discussed in further detail below. A description of thehardware configuration of comment notification system 104 is providedbelow in connection with FIG. 2.

Furthermore, system 100 includes a database 105 (e.g., relationaldatabase) connected to comment notification system 104. Database 105 isconfigured to store comments and identifications (e.g., markers, such asUniform Resource Locators (URLs)) of the elements or containers uponwhich the comments are directed as discussed further below.

System 100 is not to be limited in scope to any one particular networkarchitecture. System 100 may include any number of client devices 101,networks 102, social network servers 103, comment notification systems104 and databases 105. Furthermore, in one embodiment, commentnotification system 104 may be part of client device 101, such ascommenting engine 106, or social network server 103.

Referring now to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 illustrates a hardware configuration ofcomment notification system 104 (FIG. 1) which is representative of ahardware environment for practicing the present invention. Referring toFIG. 2, comment notification system 104 has a processor 201 coupled tovarious other components by system bus 202. An operating system 203 runson processor 201 and provides control and coordinates the functions ofthe various components of FIG. 2. An application 204 in accordance withthe principles of the present invention runs in conjunction withoperating system 203 and provides calls to operating system 203 wherethe calls implement the various functions or services to be performed byapplication 204. Application 204 may include, for example, a program forimproving the understanding of the relationship between the commentsbeing made to the containers (e.g., photo album) and the comments beingmade to the elements of the containers (e.g., photographs) as discussedfurther below in association with FIGS. 3, 4A-4C and 5-12.

Referring again to FIG. 2, read-only memory (“ROM”) 205 is coupled tosystem bus 202 and includes a basic input/output system (“BIOS”) thatcontrols certain basic functions of comment notification system 104.Random access memory (“RAM”) 206 and disk adapter 207 are also coupledto system bus 202. It should be noted that software components includingoperating system 203 and application 204 may be loaded into RAM 206,which may be comment notification system's 104 main memory forexecution. Disk adapter 207 may be an integrated drive electronics(“IDE”) adapter that communicates with a disk unit 208, e.g., diskdrive. It is noted that the program for improving the understanding ofthe relationship between the comments being made to the containers(e.g., photo album) and the comments being made to the elements of thecontainers (e.g., photographs), as discussed further below inassociation with FIGS. 3, 4A-4C and 5-12, may reside in disk unit 208 orin application 204.

Comment notification system 104 may further include a communicationsadapter 209 coupled to bus 202. Communications adapter 209 interconnectsbus 202 with an outside network (e.g., network 102 of FIG. 1) therebyallowing comment notification system 104 to communicate with clientdevices 101 and social network server 103.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

As stated in the Background section, it is not always clear as towhether the comment stream in a social networking site applies to theelements of the container (e.g., photographs) or to the container itself(e.g., photo album). For example, a user of a social networking site mayreceive a notification indicating that an update to a photo album hasoccurred, such as four new photographs being added to the photo album. Adepiction of the photo album along with the photographs in the album mayappear to the user so that the user can comment on the album. However,the user may believe that he/she is commenting on one of the photographsof the photo album as opposed to the photo album itself which leads toconfusing comment streams. As a result, when the user sees thephotograph as part of an album update, the user may see his/her commentin the comment stream; however, when the user sees the comment streampertaining to the photograph itself, the user will not see his/hercomment thereby causing confusion to the user. Furthermore, when anupdate is made to an element of a container (e.g., photograph) or to acontainer (e.g., photo album), users, such as followers of the user whoupdated the element or container (e.g., posted a new comment about thephotograph), may receive a notification of the update. However, suchnotifications are fragmented in that they occur after every update for asingle element of a container or the container and do not provide a viewof the social interactions involving an update of several relatedelements or containers (e.g., photographs, documents). Hence, thecomment streams depicted in social networking sites do not clearlydistinguish whether the comments are directed to the elements of thecontainer or to the container itself. Furthermore, the notifications insocial networking sites pertaining to updates (e.g., comments) beingmade to an element of a container or to a container do not provide aview of the social interactions involving an update of several relatedelements or containers.

The principles of the present invention provide a means for improvingthe understanding of the relationship between the comments being made tothe containers (e.g., photo album) and the comments being made to theelements of the containers (e.g., photographs) by displaying theelements of a container in a fliptych manner, where the user selects toreceive comments pertaining to one of the elements of the container orthe container itself and where the selected element or container isdisplayed in the center section of the fliptych. Furthermore, commentsare displayed in a comment section below the fliptych, where thecomments in the comment section that are directed to the element orcontainer displayed in the center section of the fliptych arehighlighted as discussed below in association with FIGS. 3, 4A-4C and5-12. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for monitoring and storingcomments to the container (e.g., photo album) and the elements of thecontainer (e.g., photographs). FIGS. 4A-4C are a flowchart of a methodfor displaying the elements of a container in a fliptych manner alongwith a comment section containing highlighted comments directed to theelement or container depicted in the center section of the fliptych.FIG. 5 illustrates a screenshot of a user interface on a client devicedisplaying the elements of a container in a fliptych manner along with acomment section, where the comments in the comment section directed tothe element or container depicted in the center section of the fliptychare highlighted. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method for adjusting thecomment stream in response to the user selecting an image of a differentelement in the fliptych to become the currently selected element. FIG. 7illustrates a screenshot of a user interface on a client devicedisplaying the elements of a container, such as pages of a document, ina fliptych manner along with a comment section that includes comments tothe pages of the document, where the comments directed to the pagedepicted in the center section of the fliptych are highlighted. FIG. 8illustrates a screenshot of a user interface on a client devicedisplaying the elements of a container along with a comment section thatincludes comments to the elements of the container, where the use of anellipsis is used to convey that many additional comments were madepertaining to the other elements of the container between the time ofthe first and second comment. FIG. 9 illustrates a screenshot of a userinterface on a client device displaying the elements of a containeralong with a comment section that includes comments to the elements ofthe container, where the use of an ellipsis is used to convey that manyadditional comments were made pertaining to the other elements of thecontainer before and after the comments on the element depicted in thecenter section of the fliptych. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method fornavigating between elements of the container by clicking on comments inthe comment section. FIG. 11 illustrates a screenshot of a userinterface on a client device in response to the user selecting a commentin the comment section, where a new element associated with the selectedcomment is depicted in the center section of the fliptych and wherecomments in the comment section directed to the element displayed in thecenter section are highlighted. FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method foradjusting the comment stream in response to the user selecting an areaof an element or container.

As discussed above, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method 300 for monitoringand storing comments to the container (e.g., photo album) and theelements of the container (e.g., photographs) in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-2, in step 301, commentnotification system 104 monitors social media streams (e.g., socialmedia streams for client devices 101) for comments to a container (e.g.,photo album) and elements within the container (e.g., photographs). A“container,” as used herein, refers to a digital collection of elements.For example, a container may be a photo album, a collection ofdocuments, a document or a collection of files. An element of thecontainer may be a photograph, a document, a page or section of adocument, or a file. In one embodiment, “monitoring,” as used herein,includes the aspect for monitoring notifications of comments being made,such as from commenting engine 106 in client device 101. Furthermore,“monitoring,” as used herein, includes the aspect of intercepting acomment, such as when it is added or removed from the social mediastream.

In step 302, a determination is made by comment notification system 104as to whether comment notification system 104 identifies any comments tothe container or element within the container. If comment notificationsystem 104 does not identify any comments to the container or elementwithin the container, then comment notification system 104 continues tomonitor social media streams for comments to a container (e.g., photoalbum) and elements within the container (e.g., photographs) in step301.

If, however, comment notification system 104 identifies comments to thecontainer or elements within the container, then, in step 303, commentnotification system 104 saves the comments to a data structure, such asan index or a table in a database 105, along with an identification(e.g., marker, such as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL)) of thecontainer or element of the container upon which the comments aredirected.

In step 304, comment notification system 104 notifies a user (e.g., userof client device 101A) regarding comments made to the container and/orelement(s) of the container. For example, comment notification system104 may deliver a notification to the user of client device 101indicating that comments were made to the container (e.g., comments madeto a photo album) and/or elements of the container (e.g., comments madeto photos of photo album). For instance, the user may receive anotification regarding comments being made to photographs 3, 4, 5 of thephoto album My Winter Vacation, where the underlined texts are links tothe appropriate element or container. Upon selecting such links, theelements of the container are displayed in a fliptych manner along witha comment section with comments directed to the selected element orcontainer as discussed in further detail below. In this manner, theprinciples of the present invention allow a single notification for allcomments across multiple elements in a collection and the collectionitself. For example, if the user clicked on the 3^(rd) photograph linkin the notification, the user would see on the user interface of clientdevice 101 a fliptych of all the photographs of the photo album MyWinter Vacation with the selected photograph (3^(rd) photograph)displayed in the center section of the fliptych and the comments in thecomment section directed to the 3^(rd) photograph being highlighted asdiscussed further below.

In one embodiment, comment notification system 104 keeps a node graph ofupdates, where each node in the graph represents an element of acontainer or a container and each of these nodes include further nodesrepresenting comments to the respective element or container. Commentnotification system 104 marks elements or comments in the graph whenviewed by each user, effectively keeping a per user graph of the updatesviewed by each user. Comment notification system 104 can then query thegraph for elements or comments which have not been viewed by a certainuser, and notify about nodes which include nested elements or commentsnot viewed by the user.

After notifying the user regarding comments made to the container and/orelement(s) of the container as discussed above, the user may select toview the comments pertaining to the container or element(s) of thecontainer. The elements of the container will then be displayed to theuser interface of client device 101 in a fliptych manner along with acomment section containing highlighted comments that are directed to theelement or container depicted in the center section of the fliptychcorresponding to the element or container for which the user selected toview comments as discussed below in connection with FIGS. 4A-4C.

FIGS. 4A-4C are a flowchart of a method 400 for displaying the elementsof a container in a fliptych manner along with a comment sectioncontaining highlighted comments directed to the element or containerdepicted in the center section of the fliptych in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4A, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3, in step 401, adetermination is made by comment notification system 104 as to whetherit received a selection from the user to view comments of an elementwithin the container or the container itself in the notification theuser received in step 304 of FIG. 3. For example, if the user (e.g.,user of client device 101) received a notification regarding a commentbeing made to photographs 3, 4, 5 of the photo album My Winter Vacation,and the user selected to view the comments to photograph 3 of the photoalbum, then the user selected to view comments of the element (e.g.,photograph 3) of the container (e.g., My Winter Vacation photo album) inthe notification.

If comment notification system 104 did not receive a selection from theuser to view comments of an element within the container or thecontainer itself in the notification the user received in step 304 ofFIG. 3, then, in step 401, comment notification system 104 continues todetermine whether it received a selection from the user to view commentsof an element within the container or the container itself in thenotification the user received.

If, however, comment notification system 104 received a selection fromthe user to view comments of an element within the container or thecontainer itself in the notification, then, in step 402, commentnotification system 104 searches the data structure for comments to theselected element or container. As discussed above, the comments arestored in the data structure along with an identification of the elementor container to which the comments apply. Hence, comment notificationsystem 104 is able to retrieve the appropriate comments based on usingthe identification of the element or container for which the userselected to view comments.

In step 403, comment notification system 104 retrieves the comments tothe selected element or container from the data structure.

In step 404, a determination is made by comment notification system 104regarding whether there is insufficient area on the display of theuser's computing device (i.e., client device 101) to display comments tothe selected element or container.

If there is insufficient area on the display of the user's computingdevice (i.e., client device 101) to display comments to the selectedelement or container, then, in step 405, comment notification system 104prioritizes the comments retrieved from the data structure based on theauthor of the comments on the element or container for which the userselected to view comments and comments temporally and sequentially closeto the comments on the element or container for which the user selectedto view comments. In this manner, the comments listed in the commentssection (discussed in further detail below) will correspond to thehighest rated comments. For example, if the display of the user'scomputing device only has space to display five comments in the commentssection, then the five highest rated comments will be displayed in thecomments section.

In step 406, comment notification system 104 displays images of theelements of the container in a fliptych manner and a list of comments ina comments section (discussed in further detail below), where an imageof the selected element or container is displayed in the center sectionof the fliptych, and where the list of comments includes prioritizedcomments to the selected element or container which are highlighted. A“fliptych,” as used herein, refers to displaying each item in acollection or container as an image in a horizontal stack. The stack iscomposed in three sections, previous list items, the current list itemand upcoming list items. Images representing previous list items occupythe left-hand portion of the stack are skewed accordingly and fall intoshadow. The image representing the selected element or containeroccupies the center section and receives full illumination and remainsunskewed. Images representing upcoming list items occupy the right-handportion of the stack and are skewed accordingly and also fall intoshadow. A more detailed description of a fliptych is provided furtherbelow.

In step 407, comment notification system 104 keeps track of thecomments, elements and containers viewed by the user, such as via a nodegraph as discussed above.

Returning to step 404, if, however, there is sufficient area on thedisplay of the user's computing device (i.e., client device 101) todisplay comments to the selected element or container, then, in step408, a determination is made by comment notification system 104 as towhether there is available space on the display of the user's computingdevice (i.e., client device 101) to display related comments.

Referring to FIG. 4B, if there is available space on the display of theuser's computing device (i.e., client device 101) to display relatedcomments, then, in step 409, a determination is made by commentnotification system 104 as to whether there are any comments that theuser has not yet seen. In one embodiment, comment notification system104 provides a high priority to comments not previously seen by the userto be displayed along with the comments directed to the element orcontainer selected by the user.

If there are comments that the user has not yet seen, then, in step 410,comment notification system 104 searches the data structure for commentsrelated to the comments of the selected element or container usingnatural language processing. For example, if the comments to theselected element or container were directed to a trip to Puerto Rico,then comments related to the trip may be identified based on usingkeywords, such as “Puerto Rico” or “trip.”

In step 411, comment notification system 104 retrieves the commentsrelated to the comments of the selected element or container from thedata structure.

In step 412, comment notification system 104 displays elements of thecontainer in a fliptych manner and a list of comments in a commentssection, where an image of the selected element or container isdisplayed in the center section of the fliptych, and where the list ofcomments includes comments to the selected element or container whichare highlighted as well as comments related to the comments of theselected element or container as illustrated in FIG. 5. In this manner,as discussed further below, an album view is provided which makes itunnecessary to have separate comments on the album itself. All commentsare made on a very particular element, but the user still gets an albumexperience and view of the comments. Hence, the user is able to obtain abetter understanding of the relationship between the comments being madeto the containers (e.g., photo album) and the comments being made to theelements of the containers (e.g., photographs).

In step 413, comment notification system 104 keeps track of thecomments, elements and containers viewed by the user, such as via a nodegraph as discussed above.

FIG. 5 illustrates a screenshot of a user interface 500 on a clientdevice 101 (FIG. 1) displaying the elements of a container in a fliptychmanner along with a comment section, where the comments in the commentsection directed to the element or container depicted in the centersection of the fliptych are highlighted in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3 and 4A-4C, userinterface 500 displays the elements (e.g., photographs) of a container(e.g., photo album entitled “My Winter Vacation”) in a fliptych manner501. As discussed above, fliptych 501 displays each element of thecontainer as an image in a horizontal stack. The image 502 representingthe selected element or container occupies the center section andreceives full illumination and remains unskewed. In contrast, imagesrepresenting previous list elements occupy the left-hand portion of thestack are skewed accordingly and fall into shadow and imagesrepresenting upcoming list items occupy the right-hand portion of thestack and are skewed accordingly and also fall into shadow.

User interface 500 further displays a comment section 503 includingcomments 504 directed to the element or container displayed in thecenter section of fliptych 501 (i.e., the element or container for whichthe user selected to view comments). In one embodiment, such comments504 are highlighted to distinguish between other comments that aredisplayed in the list of comments 503 but were not directly posted inconnection with the element or container displayed in the center sectionof fliptych 501. As discussed above, these other comments may includecomments related to the comments directed to the element or containerdisplayed in the center section of fliptych 501. For example, referringto FIG. 5, comments 504 are directed to the trip to Puerto Rico;whereas, the other comments 505, 506 in the list of comments 503 weredeemed to be related to these comments since they are directed toplanning a trip (comment 505) or a familiar question that is asked inresponse to telling a person that you were on vacation (comment 506).

In one embodiment, comments are sent to client device 101 in aserialized form according to criteria discussed herein, where theserialized form indicates which of the comments are applicable to thecurrently selected element.

As the user flips through fliptych 501, a different element (e.g.,photograph) becomes the currently selected element and the comment viewadjusts automatically to highlight comments on the current element asdiscussed below in connection with FIG. 6. It is noted that the albumview of the comments is preserved.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method 600 for adjusting the comment streamin response to the user selecting an image of a different element infliptych 501 (FIG. 5) to become the currently selected element inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3, 4A-4C and 5, in step601, a determination is made by comment notification system 104 as towhether the user selected one of the images of the elements in eitherthe left-hand or right-hand portion of the stack.

If the user did not select one of the images of the elements in eitherthe left-hand or right-hand portion of the stack, then commentnotification system 104 continues to determine whether the user selectedone of the images of the elements in either the left-hand or right-handportion of the stack in step 601.

If, however, the user selected one of the images of the elements ineither the left-hand or right-hand portion of the stack, then commentnotification system 104 displays the selected image in the centersection 502 of fliptych 501.

In step 603, comment notification system 104 search the data structurefor comments to the selected element as discussed above in connectionwith step 402 of FIG. 4A.

In step 604, comment notification system 104 retrieves the comments tothe selected element from the data structure.

In step 605, comment notification system 104 adjusts the comment stream503 to include comments 504 directed to the selected element which arehighlighted.

Furthermore, in a “collection” view where an image of the container(e.g., document) is displayed as the center section of the fliptych,when the user selects a different element (e.g., page of the document)to become the currently selected element, the user may “drill down” fromthe album or collection view of all documents into the view of aparticular document (e.g., page 4 of the document), such as shown inFIG. 7 (discussed further below). The comment stream adjusts asdiscussed above in connection with FIG. 6. While the complete set ofcomments across all pages in all the elements/documents is displayed inthe “collection” view, when drilling down, the comment stream adjusts toonly show comments from the currently viewed document with thehighlighted comments being directed to the current page (page displayedin the center section of the fliptych) instead of the document.

Returning to step 409 of FIG. 4B, if there no comments that the user hasnot yet seen, then, in step 414, comment notification system 104 selectsadditional comments from the data structure based on the author of thecomments on the element or container for which the user selected to viewcomments and comments temporally and sequentially close to the commentson the element or container for which the user selected to viewcomments.

In step 415, comment notification system 104 displays the images of theelements of the container in a fliptych manner and a list of comments ina comments section, where the image of the selected element or containeris displayed in center section 502 of fliptych 501, and where the listof comments 503 include comments 504 to the selected element orcontainer which are highlighted as well as the selected additionalcomments as illustrated in FIG. 7.

In step 416, comment notification system 104 keeps track of thecomments, elements and containers viewed by the user, such as via a nodegraph as discussed above.

FIG. 7 illustrates a screenshot of a user interface 700 on a clientdevice 101 (FIG. 1) displaying the elements of a container, such aspages of a document, in a fliptych manner along with a comment sectionthat includes comments to the pages of the document, where the commentsdirected to the page depicted in the center section of the fliptych arehighlighted in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3, 4A-4C and 5-6, userinterface 700 displays the elements (e.g., pages) of a container (e.g.,report entitled “Quarterly Report”) in a fliptych manner 701.

User interface 700 further displays a comment section 703 includingcomments 704 directed to the element (e.g., page 4 of the QuarterlyReport) displayed in the center section 702 of fliptych 701 (i.e., theelement for which the user selected to view comments). In oneembodiment, such comments 704 are highlighted to distinguish betweenother comments that are displayed in the list of comments 703 but werenot directly posted in connection with the element or containerdisplayed in the center section of fliptych 701. As discussed above,these other comments may be additional comments that were obtained fromthe data structure based on the author of the comments on the elementfor which the user selected to view comments and comments temporally andsequentially close to the comments on the element for which the userselected to view comments. For example, referring to FIG. 7, comment 705posted by Jane Doe 1 was included in the list of comments 703 since JaneDoe 1 was an author of a comment directed to the element (e.g., page 4of the Quarterly Report) displayed in the center section 702 of fliptych701. In another example, comment 706 posted by John Doe 1 was includedin the list of comments 703 since it was temporally and sequentiallyclose to the comments posted in connection with the element (e.g., page4 of the Quarterly Report) displayed in the center section 702 offliptych 701.

In one embodiment, an ellipsis may be used to convey that manyadditional comments were made in connection with other elements (e.g.,pages) of the container (e.g., document) between the comments directedto the element displayed in the center section of the fliptych asillustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 illustrates a screenshot of a user interface 800 on a clientdevice 101 (FIG. 1) displaying the elements of a container along with acomment section that includes comments to the elements of the container,where the use of an ellipsis is used to convey that many additionalcomments were made pertaining to the other elements of the containerbetween the time of the first and second comment in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3, 4A-4C and 5-7, userinterface 800 displays the elements (e.g., pages) of a container (e.g.,report entitled “Quarterly Report”) in a fliptych manner 801.

User interface 800 further displays a comment section 803 includingcomments 804 directed to the element (e.g., page 4 of the QuarterlyReport) displayed in the center section 802 of fliptych 801 (i.e., theelement for which the user selected to view comments). In oneembodiment, such comments 804, 805 are highlighted to distinguishbetween other comments that are displayed in the list of comments 803but were not directly posted in connection with the element or containerdisplayed in the center section of fliptych 801. As illustrated in FIG.8, an ellipsis 806 is used to convey that many additional comments weremade on other pages between the time of the first and second comment804, 805, respectively. As also illustrated in FIG. 8, an additionalcomment 807 from Jane Doe 1 is shown since Jane Doe 1 made a comment onthis page and since this particular comment, “to add packaging costs,”while made on another page, is semantically similar to the content ofthis page (“add the shipping costs”) which is uncommon in thiscollection of pages (document). Including additional comment 807 in thelist of comments 803 is an example of utilizing natural languageprocessing as discussed above in connection with step 410 of FIG. 4B andbeing an author of a comment directed to the element displayed in thecenter section 802 of fliptych 801 as discussed above in connection withsteps 414-415 of FIG. 4B and FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 illustrates a screenshot of a user interface 900 on a clientdevice 101 (FIG. 1) displaying the elements of a container along with acomment section that includes comments to the elements of the container,where the use of an ellipsis is used to convey that many additionalcomments were made pertaining to the other elements of the containerbefore and after the comments on the element depicted in the centersection of the fliptych in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 9, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3, 4A-4C and 5-8, userinterface 900 displays the elements (e.g., pages) of a container (e.g.,report entitled “Quarterly Report”) in a fliptych manner 901.

User interface 900 further displays a comment section 903 includingcomments 904 directed to the element (e.g., page 4 of the QuarterlyReport) displayed in the center section 902 of fliptych 901 (i.e., theelement for which the user selected to view comments). In oneembodiment, such comments 904 are highlighted to distinguish betweenother comments that are displayed in the list of comments 903 but werenot directly posted in connection with the element or containerdisplayed in the center section of fliptych 901. As illustrated in FIG.9, an ellipsis 905 is used to convey that many additional comments weremade pertaining to the other elements of the container before and afterthe comments on the element depicted in the center section 902 offliptych 901. FIG. 9 further illustrates an additional comment 906 madeby Jane Doe 2 which is displayed since it is was relatively closetemporally to the comments on the element displayed in the centersection 902 of fliptych 901 and no other related comments were found.Including additional comment 906 in the list of comments 903 is anexample of selecting comments that temporally close to the comments onthe element displayed in the center section 902 of fliptych 901 asdiscussed above in connection with steps 414-415 of FIG. 4B and FIG. 7.

Returning to step 408 of FIG. 4A, if there is not available space on thedisplay of the user's computing device (i.e., client device 101) todisplay related comments, then, referring to FIG. 4C, in conjunctionwith FIGS. 1-3 and 5-9, in step 417, comment notification system 104displays the elements of the container in a fliptych manner and a listof comments in the comments section, where the selected element orcontainer is displayed in the center section of the fliptych and wherethe list of comments only includes comments to the selected element orcontainer which are highlighted as discussed previously herein.

In step 418, comment notification system 104 keeps track of thecomments, elements and containers viewed by the user, such as via a nodegraph as discussed above.

As discussed above, comment notification system 104 displays theelements of the container in a fliptych manner and a list of comments inthe comments section. The user may navigate between elements of thecontainer by clicking on comments as discussed below in connection withFIGS. 10 and 11.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method 1000 for navigating between elementsof the container by clicking on comments in the comment section inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3, 4A-4C and 5-9, instep 1001, a determination is made by comment navigation system 104 asto whether it received a selection of a comment in the comment section(e.g., comment section 503, comment section 703, comment section 803,comment section 903) from the user.

If comment navigation system 104 did not receive a selection of acomment in a comment section from the user, then comment navigationsystem 104 continues to determine whether it received a selection of acomment in the comment section in step 1001.

If, however, comment navigation system 104 received a selection of acomment in the comment section, then, in step 1002, comment navigationsystem 104 identifies the element or container associated with theselected comment.

In step 1003, comment navigation system 104 searches the data structurefor comments to the element or container associated with the selectedcomment.

In step 1004, comment navigation system 104 retrieves the comments tothe element or container associated with the selected comment from thedata structure.

In step 1005, comment navigation system 104 displays the elements of thecontainer in a fliptych manner and a list of comments in the commentssection, where the element or container associated with the selectedcomment is displayed in the center section of the fliptych, and wherethe list of comments includes comments to the element or containerassociated with the selected comment that are highlighted as illustratedin FIG. 11.

In step 1006, comment notification system 104 keeps track of thecomments, elements and containers viewed by the user, such as via a nodegraph as discussed above.

FIG. 11 illustrates a screenshot of a user interface 1100 on a clientdevice 101 (FIG. 1) in response to the user selecting a comment in thecomment section, where a new element associated with the selectedcomment is depicted in the center section of the fliptych and wherecomments in the comment section directed to the element displayed in thecenter section are highlighted in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, in conjunction with FIG. 5, as previouslydiscussed, user interface 500 of FIG. 5 displays a comment section 503including comments 504 directed to the element or container displayed inthe center section of fliptych 501 (i.e., the element or container forwhich the user selected to view comments). In one embodiment, suchcomments 504 are highlighted to distinguish between other comments thatare displayed in the list of comments 503 but were not directly postedin connection with the element or container displayed in the centersection of fliptych 501. As discussed above, these other comments mayinclude comments related to the comments directed to the element orcontainer displayed in the center section of fliptych 501. For example,referring to FIG. 5, comments 504 are directed to the trip to PuertoRico; whereas, the other comments 505, 506 in the list of comments 503were deemed to be related to these comments since they are directed toplanning a trip (comment 505) or a familiar question that is asked inresponse to telling a person that you were on vacation (comment 506). Ifthe user selected, such as by clicking with a mouse, comment 506, thenuser interface 500 would be updated as shown in FIG. 11.

FIG. 11 illustrates the updated user interface 500 represented by userinterface 1100 which displays the elements (e.g., photographs) of acontainer (e.g., photo album entitled “My Winter Vacation”) in afliptych manner 1101.

User interface 1100 further displays an updated comment section 1103including comments 1104, 1105 directed to the element (displayed in thecenter section 1102 of fliptych 1101 which corresponds to the elementrelated to the comment (comment 506) selected by the user. In oneembodiment, such comments 1104, 1105 are highlighted to distinguishbetween other comments 1106, 1107 that are displayed in the list ofcomments 1103 but were not directly posted in connection with theelement displayed in the center section of fliptych 1101. As shown inFIG. 11, the comment (comment 506) selected by the user now becomescomment 1105 which is highlighted to indicate that it is a commentdirected to the element displayed in the center section of fliptych1101.

In addition to adjusting the comment stream in response to selecting anew element in the fliptych or selecting a comment in the commentsection, the comment stream may be adjusted in response to the userselecting an area of the element or container as discussed below inconnection with FIG. 12.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method 1200 for adjusting the comment streamin response to the user selecting an area of an element or container inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12, in conjunction with FIGS. 1-3, 4A-4C and 5-11, instep 1201, a determination is made by comment notification system 104 asto whether it received a selection of an area of an image of an elementor container displayed in the fliptych.

If comment notification system 104 did not receive a selection of anarea of an image of an element or container displayed in the fliptych,then comment notification system 104 continues to determine whether itreceived a selection of an area of an image of an element or containerdisplayed in the fliptych in step 1201.

If, however, comment notification system 104 received a selection of anarea of an image of an element or container displayed in the fliptych,then, in step 1202, comment notification system 104 adjusts the commentstream to highlight comments particular to that area of the element orcontainer, such as by highlighting those comments in the comment sectiondirected to that area of the element or container.

It is noted that the principles of the present invention may be appliedto any arbitrary level of hierarchy, including greater than two levels,such as with a deep folder structure.

Furthermore, the principles of the present invention apply to tag cloudsand collections dynamically created as a result of a search. Theelements in the fliptych may be controlled by a tag cloud or searchterms. In addition to drilling down through the elements of the fliptychitself, the user may also be drilling down through supplementalnavigation tools, such as a tag cloud or by clicking on hashtags in thecomments or the elements (documents) themselves, or in supplementalfacets. As the user drills down, dynamically creating a new collection,the fliptych and the comment stream adjust, showing only comments fromelements in the new collection and selecting only those related to thecurrently highlighted element.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for improving understanding ofcomments on collections of data, the method comprising: monitoring asocial media stream for comments to a container and elements within saidcontainer; saving said comments to a data structure along with anidentification of said container or an element of said container uponwhich said comments are directed; searching, by a processor, said datastructure for comments to said container or to an element of saidcontainer in response to a user selecting to view comments to saidcontainer or said element of said container; retrieving said comments tosaid container or to said element of said container from said datastructure; and displaying images of elements of said container in afliptych manner and a first list of comments in a comments section,wherein an image of said container or said element of said containerselected by said user is displayed in a center section of said fliptych,wherein said first list of comments comprises comments directed to saidcontainer or said element of said container selected by said user whichare highlighted.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:notifying said user regarding comments made to one or more of saidcontainer and said element of said container.
 3. The method as recitedin claim 1 further comprising: keeping track of comments, elements ofsaid container and said container viewed by said user via a node graph.4. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising: searching saiddata structure for comments related to said comments directed to saidcontainer or said element of said container selected by said user inresponse to having available space on a display of a user's computingdevice to display related comments; and retrieving said comments relatedto said comments directed to said container or said element of saidcontainer selected by said user from said data structure; wherein saidfirst list of comments comprises said retrieved comments related to saidcomments directed to said container or said element of said containerselected by said user.
 5. The method as recited in claim 1 furthercomprising: displaying images of said elements of said container in saidfliptych manner and a second list of comments in said comments sectionin response to said user selecting a comment in said first list ofcomments directed to a second element of said container, wherein animage of said second element is displayed in said center section of saidfliptych, wherein said second list of comments comprises commentsdirected to said second element of said container.
 6. The method asrecited in claim 1 further comprising: prioritizing comments retrievedfrom said data structure based on an author of comments to saidcontainer or said element of said container selected by said user aswell as based on comments temporally and sequentially adjacent tocomments to said container or said element of said container selected bysaid user in response to an insufficient area on a display of a user'scomputing device to display all of said comments retrieved from saiddata structure, wherein said first list of comments comprises a numberof said prioritized comments to said container or said element of saidcontainer selected by said user equal to a number of comments that canbe displayed in said comments section.
 7. The method as recited in claim1 further comprising: selecting additional comments from said datastructure based on an author of comments to said container or saidelement of said container selected by said user as well as based oncomments temporally and sequentially adjacent to comments to saidcontainer or said element of said container selected by said user inresponse to having available space on a display of a user's computingdevice to display related comments and in response to there being nocomments said user has not seen, wherein said first list of commentscomprises said additional comments.
 8. The method as recited in claim 1further comprising: receiving a section of an area of said image of saidcontainer or said element of said container selected by said userdisplayed in said fliptych; and adjusting comments displayed in saidfirst list of comments to highlight comments particular to said selectedarea of said image of said container or said element of said containerselected by said user displayed in said fliptych.
 9. The method asrecited in claim 1, wherein said container comprises one of thefollowing: a photo album, a collection of documents, and a document,wherein said element of said container comprises one of the following: aphotograph, a document, and a page or section of a document.
 10. Themethod as recited in claim 1 further comprising: displaying a secondelement of said container in said center section of said fliptych inresponse to said user selecting said second element previously displayedin either a left-hand portion or a right-hand portion of a stack of saidfliptych; searching said data structure for comments to said secondelement; retrieving said comments to said second element from said datastructure; and displaying a second list of comments to replace saidfirst list of comments, wherein said second list of comments comprisessaid comments to said second element which are highlighted.